Actus reus, or criminal
Action, is the essential physical
Element of criminal liability, while
Mens Rea functions as the essential mental
Element. Actus reus ("culpable
Action" in Latin) is required to determine whether a crime has been committed, while
Mens Rea ("guilty mind" in Latin) is considered in determining the severity of the criminal offense.
Actus reus must be present for a criminal conviction to exist in the Anglo-American criminal law system. Without criminal
Action, there can be no crime. The fundamental idea behind this is that it is wrong to punish people for their thoughts alone. Until a criminal
Action occurs there is no way to determine or measure the severity of a person's criminal thoughts, and it can easily be argued that criminal thoughts in and of themselves cause no harm to society. Besides, if our thoughts were the only requirement needed for criminal liability, we'd probably all have been to prison by now at least a few times.
Actus Reus
